Metabolic changes associated with methionine stress sensitivity in MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: The majority of cancer cells have a unique metabolic requirement for methionine that is not observed in normal, non-tumorigenic cells. This phenotype is described as "methionine dependence" or "methionine stress sensitivity" in which cancer cells are unable to proliferate when methionine has been replaced with its metabolic precursor, homocysteine, in cell culture growth media. We focus on the metabolic response to methionine stress in the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-468 and its methionine insensitive derivative cell line MDA-MB-468res-R8. RESULTS: Using a variety of techniques including fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and extracellular flux assays, we identified a metabolic down-regulation of oxidative phosphorylation in both MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-468res-R8 cell types when cultured in homocysteine media. Untargeted metabolomics was performed by way of gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry on both cell types cultured in homocysteine media over a period of 2 to 24 h. We determined unique metabolic responses between the two cell lines in specific pathways including methionine salvage, purine/pyrimidine synthesis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Stable isotope tracer studies using deuterium-labeled homocysteine indicated a redirection of homocysteine metabolism toward the transsulfuration pathway and glutathione synthesis. This data corroborates with increased glutathione levels concomitant with increased levels of oxidized glutathione. Redirection of homocysteine flux resulted in reduced generation of methionine from homocysteine particularly in MDA-MB-468 cells. Consequently, synthesis of the important one-carbon donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) was decreased, perturbing the SAM to S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio in MDA-MB-468 cells, which is an indicator of the cellular methylation potential. CONCLUSION: This study indicates a differential metabolic response between the methionine sensitive MDA-MB-468 cells and the methionine insensitive derivative cell line MDA-MB-468res-R8. Both cell lines appear to experience oxidative stress when methionine was replaced with its metabolic precursor homocysteine, forcing cells to redirect homocysteine metabolism toward the transsulfuration pathway to increase glutathione synthesis. The methionine stress resistant MDA-MB-468res-R8 cells responded to this cellular stress earlier than the methionine stress sensitive MDA-MB468 cells and coped better with metabolic demands. Additionally, it is evident that S-adenosylmethionine metabolism is dependent on methionine availability in cancer cells, which cannot be sufficiently supplied by homocysteine metabolism under these conditions.

Wnt signaling directs a metabolic program of glycolysis and angiogenesis in colon cancer.

Much of the mechanism by which Wnt signaling drives proliferation during oncogenesis is attributed to its regulation of the cell cycle. Here, we show how Wnt/ß-catenin signaling directs another hallmark of tumorigenesis, namely Warburg metabolism. Using biochemical assays and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to probe metabolism in vitro and in living tumors, we observe that interference with Wnt signaling in colon cancer cells reduces glycolytic metabolism and results in small, poorly perfused tumors. We identify pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) as an important direct target within a larger gene program for metabolism. PDK1 inhibits pyruvate flux to mitochondrial respiration and a rescue of its expression in Wnt-inhibited cancer cells rescues glycolysis as well as vessel growth in the tumor microenvironment. Thus, we identify an important mechanism by which Wnt-driven Warburg metabolism directs the use of glucose for cancer cell proliferation and links it to vessel delivery of oxygen and nutrients.

Two-photon excited fluorescence lifetime imaging and spectroscopy of melanins in vitro and in vivo.

Changes in the amounts of cellular eumelanin and pheomelanin have been associated with carcinogenesis. The goal of this work is to develop methods based on two-photon-excited-fluorescence (TPEF) for measuring relative concentrations of these compounds. We acquire TPEF emission spectra (λ(ex)=1000 nm) of melanin in vitro from melanoma cells, hair specimens, and in vivo from healthy volunteers. We find that the pheomelanin emission peaks at approximately 615 to 625 nm and eumelanin exhibits a broad maximum at 640 to 680 nm. Based on these data we define an optical melanin index (OMI) as the ratio of fluorescence intensities at 645 and 615 nm. The measured OMI for the MNT-1 melanoma cell line is 1.6 ± 0.22 while the Mc1R gene knockdown lines MNT-46 and MNT-62 show substantially greater pheomelanin production (OMI=0.5 ± 0.05 and 0.17 ± 0.03, respectively). The measured values are in good agreement with chemistry-based melanin extraction methods. In order to better separate melanin fluorescence from other intrinsic fluorophores, we perform fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy of in vitro specimens. The relative concentrations of keratin, eumelanin, and pheomelanin components are resolved using a phasor approach for analyzing lifetime data. Our results suggest that a noninvasive TPEF index based on spectra and lifetime could potentially be used for rapid melanin ratio characterization both in vitro and in vivo.

Metabolic trajectory of cellular differentiation in small intestine by Phasor Fluorescence Lifetime Microscopy of NADH.

There is a lack of fast and high resolution methods to measure metabolic activity of single cells in their native environment. Here we develop a straightforward, non-invasive and sensitive method to measure metabolic phenotype of single cells in a live tissue. By using NADH as optical biomarker and the phasor approach to Fluorescence Lifetime microscopy (FLIM) we identify cellular metabolic fingerprints related to different rates of oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis. For the first time we measure a three dimensional metabolic gradient in the small intestine (SI) epithelia that appears tightly associated with epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation and the Wnt gradient. The highest free/bound NADH ratios are measured at the base of the crypt within the highly proliferative stem cells, indicating high levels of glycolysis. For the first time mouse small intestinal stem cells in intact live crypts are identified within the tissue by their metabolic fingerprint.

NADH distribution in live progenitor stem cells by phasor-fluorescence lifetime image microscopy.

NADH is a naturally fluorescent metabolite associated with cellular respiration. Exploiting the different fluorescence lifetime of free and bound NADH has the potential to quantify the relative amount of bound and free NADH, enhancing understanding of cellular processes including apoptosis, cancer pathology, and enzyme kinetics. We use the phasor-fluorescence lifetime image microscopy approach to spatially map NADH in both the free and bound forms of live undifferentiated and differentiated myoblast cells. The phasor approach graphically depicts the change in lifetime at a pixel level without the requirement for fitting the decay. Comparison of the spatial distribution of NADH in the nucleus of cells induced to differentiate through serum starvation and undifferentiated cells show differing distributions of bound and free NADH. Undifferentiated cells displayed a short lifetime indicative of free NADH in the nucleus and a longer lifetime attributed to the presence of bound NADH outside of the nucleus. Differentiating cells displayed redistribution of free NADH with decreased relative concentration of free NADH within the nucleus whereas the majority of NADH was found in the cytoplasm.